Thoracic air leak syndrome

Thoracic air leak syndrome (TALS) is an uncommon late complication in haematopoetic stem cell transplant recipients with chronic graft verses host disease. These patient led to develop features of thoracic air-leakage (i.e. spontaneous pneumomediastinum, spontaneous pneumothorax, pneumopericardium or interstitial emphysema) on a background of bronchiolitis obliterans.

Epidemiology

The estimated cumulative incidence is thought to be around 2% of those having haematopoetic stem cell transplantation 3.